Chance Encounters

thirteen

Dedicated to @Mystery_25 for the banner she made on the side. <3 Thank you so much. 

Chapter 13

The front porch was illuminated by a dull white light bulb. Inside the house, however, it didn't seem like there were any lights on, if the dark windows were any indication. If I had other options, I never would have gone here willingly this late at night, but Austin and I literally had no other leads as to where Tori and Lewis must have gone.

Add Hunter, who was lazily seated between Austin and me, to our ever-growing list of things to deal with for the night. Obviously, we really needed a phone.

I looked up at the small yellow house, trying to convince myself that this wasn't a bad idea after all. Austin stood right beside me, eyeing the house with a scrutinizing gaze that mirrored his doubt in me and my plan quite obviously.

"Whose house is this, anyway?" he asked me when I still haven't made any move to ring the doorbell.

I tried not to let him know how uncomfortable I was with this plan either. "My great aunt's."

He turned to me, looking thoroughly horrified. "Your—"

"Yes."

"Dude, old people sleep at, like, seven and—"

"Shut up." I rang the doorbell before he could say more.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't as confident as I wanted to be about this. It wasn't that I was worried about my Aunt Rosie and Uncle Silas  would shoo us away or anything. In fact, I was worried about the exact opposite.

Even before my grandmother died, Aunt Rosie had always seen me as her real granddaughter. She never had kids of her own, so she saw my mom as her own daughter. She absolutely adored me, which might have made her spoil me a little bit too much, and I was sure that if she saw me out at such a "late hour," she wouldn't exactly appreciate it.

I rang the doorbell again, wondering if she and Uncle Silas had already gone to bed.

"Maybe we shouldn't bother them," Austin suggested, just as I heard the sound of muffled footsteps from inside.

"Don't worry," I said, more to myself than him.

He gave me a How can I not worry look, which I pointedly ignored.

I could tell Austin was about to say something, probably another complaint, but the door was already creaking open before he could even say anything. Uncle Silas peeked from the slight gap between the door and the doorframe, squinting in the darkness.

"Hi, Uncle Sil," I said brightly, fixing a wide smile on my face.

"Bridget, is that you?"

"It's me," I said, slightly louder than usual. "Reed."

A lot of people have told me that I looked a lot like my mother. Whenever I visited Aunt Rosie and Uncle Sil by myself, they almost always mistake me for her at first glance. I waited as Uncle Sil continued to look at me, before opening the door completely, revealing him in his blue and white striped pajamas.

"Reed?" He gave me a wide toothless smile before ushering me into a bear hug. Despite his old age, he'd never really gotten overly fat. Sure, he'd gained some weight over the years, but he had always beenl fit. "You youngsters, always out so late! Nearly gave me a heart attack."

Extricating myself from his hug, I cleared my throat and gestured to Austin, who seemed positively squeamish as he stood there. I couldn't exactly blame him because Uncle Sil still carried the same confidence he'd gotten from working in the navy years ago.